Research – St Columba’s Hospice Palliative Care, Edinburgh

Why research matters

The Hospice’s Centre for Education and Research has developed Research Matters, which is our research strategy and leads on implementing a research framework for the Hospice.

Virtual Ward Evaluation

Responding to existing service demands and adapting to anticipated pressures in the coming years, St Columba's Hospice Care piloted an innovative Virtual Ward initiative as an alternative to inpatient care over a 3-month period, from March to May 2023.

This service evaluation outlines the key findings of the pilot and makes recommendations for the future.

Read the report

New REVOLUTION Project

REVOLUTION is a new research study at St Columba’s Hospice Care that aims to find out about people living with cancer. The four areas the study will investigate are - symptoms and quality of life, physical activity, weight loss and inflammation. Our aim for the study is that it will give us a greater insight into how the physical symptoms and signs of cancer are related to underlying biological processes. 

Pictured: our medical research fellow, Rebekah, with a Bio-Impedance Analyser which helps us measure key information about nutritional status.

Research areas

ENERGY Trial

Examining the effect of exercise and diet in the rehabilitation of patients with cancer.

Virtual Reality in the Hospice

Examining the transformative effects of Virtual Reality and its impact on health and wellbeing in a hospice setting.

Eating Study

Exploring the role of dietician intervention in a hospice setting and the benefits of person-centred nutritional care.

Out of Hours support in Scotland

A research project looking at the support available for people with palliative care needs ‘out of hours’ in Scotland.

Collaborate with us

We’d love to hear from you if you’re interested in collaborating with us. Find out more by emailing us at research@stcolumbashospice.org.uk or download the application form and submit your research proposal.

Download form

Our publications

Members of our education and research teams have authored and contributed to numerous research papers and documents about palliative care.

Browse our publications